Friday, May 7, 2010

Friday To-Do: Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth

A year after seeing one of their first shows, I'm still asking myself, “Where in the hell did these guys come from?” Sure, the three guys who make up Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth are familiar, hairy dudes about town, but in the course of weeks — and not many, at that — the outfit proved that Little Rock has the energy to turn a crew of dudes with a batch of wickedly catchy, deceptively smart songs into an overnight sensation. Despite the fact that the band didn't have any recordings other than a precious few demos on their MySpace page, their early audiences (crowds in the true sense of the word) already knew the songs, singing along to this self-described brand of “white trash power pop” that marries the sonic tension of Black Francis or J. Mascis to the warped South of Flannery O'Connor and poetic perversities of Henry Miller. So after months of gigging and churning out a string of instant local classics (“Mona's Song,” “Rotgut Redemption”), the trio's finally releasing “Mystic Indian Hitmakers,” its debut album (for sale at the show for $5) — and the first of a trilogy the prolific trio plans to put out this year. Dare I say this show is not to be missed, even if you have only the slightest, tinkling interest in local music? I sure do. Folk garage trio Jonathan Wilkins & The Reparations open while the heavy-drinking alt-country act of Drunken Angels bid happy trails to town with their final show.

A look at Fourquarter Bar in Argenta, brought to you by the folks behind Midtown Billiards. Beer, barbecue and killer cocktails abound!

Federal Judge P.K. Holmes of Fort Smith issued a 32-page ruling yesterday indicating he contemplates punishment of 16 lawyers who moved a class action lawsuit against an insurance company out of his court to a state court in Polk County after a settlement had been worked out.

Lawyers facing federal court sanctions for forum shopping a class action insurance case have brought in new legal guns from out of state to fight potential sanctions.

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Gospel and R&B singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples, who has been inspiring fans with gospel-inflected freedom songs like "I'll Take You There" and "March Up Freedom's Highway" and the poignant "Oh What a Feeling" will come to Little Rock for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Central High.

Everything that Donald Trump does — make that everything that he says — is calculated to thrill his lustiest disciples. But he is discovering that what was brilliant for a politician is a miscalculation for a president, because it deepens the chasm between him and most Americans.

Watching the Charlottesville spectacle from halfway across the country, I confess that my first instinct was to raillery. Vanilla ISIS, somebody called this mob of would-be Nazis. A parade of love-deprived nerds marching bravely out of their parents' basements carrying tiki torches from Home Depot.